Have you ever wondered what role UNESCO plays? Here, SI UNESCO Representatives Marie Christine De La Barbelais and Dominique Mertz report back from the 36th UNESCO Conference where the role and achievements of UNESCO in 2011 were reviewed:

This was the title of the opening statement to the 36th UNESCO Conference which took place at the end of 2011. Opening the general
policy debate of the Conference, Mrs Irina Bukova, General Director, entitled
her statement “Placing Humanity at the heart of development, to ensure long-term
development”. The particular challenges facing our planet call for new public policies and new forms of cooperation. It was this understanding which formed the basis of this UNESCO Conference.

The focus points of
this challenge to UNESCO are:

• Rethinking our vision of peace: The “Culture of peace” today is very
  different from it was 20 or 50 years ago. Peace is not just the absence of
  war. The Culture of peace is “built” and must be “reinvented” day after day,
  in tune with the context. This peace draws its strength from knowledge-sharing,
  education, respect for human rights etc. UNESCO must continue to be a universal platform for dialogue and for
  seeking solutions for the
  protection of our heritage by acting as a bridge between cultures.

• Build a
  multilateralism which is more effective, open and responsive: Recognise the capacity for collective action
  through UNESCO, in partnership with the Civil Society, NGOs and private sector,
  around two mains guidance lines: The development of Africa and gender equality.

UNESCO’s duty guides
Member States towards a new model of development for our time. This “new humanism” is
the compass in all UNESCO activities. It was seen as highly relevant by the
member states to address the world global issues.

• Strengthen UNESCO’s intellectual authority and
  its capacity to act on:

1. Education.
2. Reconstructing
   Culture.
3. Science
   and technology.
4. Creating
   space for policy discussion on ethical issues.
5. Post
   conflicts and disasters reconstruction.
6. Building
   bridges between peoples and cultures.

UNESCO must make maximum
use education, culture, science and the free sharing of information and
knowledge to promote sustainable development and improve global understanding.

EDUCATION:

Education expenditure
in many sub-Saharan countries rose by an annual rate of 6% in the last ten
years. The effective coordination of UNESCO’s “Education for All” programme is
a part of the foundations of a much more integrated and visible mechanism which
gives Member States more ways to get involved in promoting education.

For the first time in
its history, the Annual Ministerial Review of the United Nations Economic and
Social Council, held last July in Geneva, was dedicated to the theme of education. Soroptimist
International delivered a statement as part of the discussions and the final
document endorses the inclusive vision of education promoted by SI. UNESCO was
supported in its leadership role.

The annual global report
on “Education for All” became an international reference point for education
policy and practice. In particular the 2011 report on the devastating impact of
armed conflict on education was the inspiration for a resolution on the
protection of schools in armed conflicts adopted by the United Nations Security
Council in July.

UNESCO helped launch
the global partnership for women and girls education, in conjunction with
private-sector stakeholders, and with the support of eminent political figures. Prohibiting girls and
women from receiving quality education means blocking the road to
decision-making posts and political power for half of humanity. Educating women
and girls is the way to educate entire families. It also contributes to a
country’s stability, solidarity and economic growth. Member States called
on UNESCO to improve the quality of education. They praised UNESCO’s support for
broader action at all educational levels, from early childhood to the tertiary
levels and adult learning.

CULTURE

This dimension was
absent from the debate on the Millennium Development Goals in 2000. The adoption of a
United Nations resolution in December reflects this historic turning point of
the most recent Millennium Development Goals Summit who acknowledged the
importance of the cultural dimension to the attainment of each of the
Millennium Development Goals. Reconstructing culture
means reconstructing society as a whole.

Here are a few
examples:

1. In Cambodia, UNESCO helped revive the traditional
   weaving technique, forgotten by the indigenous communities during the Khmer
   period. Today, this skill is ensuring them employment and a better
   lifestyle.
2. In Haiti, UNESCO helped to re-launch the production
   of masks, costumes and crafts in order to attract tourists and boost
   economic recovery.
3. In Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, UNESCO set about ensuring the protection
   of heritage sites and curbing the trafficking in illicit cultural
   property. 

Culture is inseparable
from freedom of expression and respect for pluralism. UNESCO renewed its promise
to build bridges between peoples and cultures and outlined some of their programmes:

1. In South-East Europe under the "Building Cultural Bridges for Development" scheme. The reconstruction of the Old Bridge at Mostar, destroyed by the war in
   Bosnia and Herzegovina, is one of the symbols of culture’s capacity to
   build unity in diversity.

2. Bridging the oceans with the publication
   of the General History of Africa in Portuguese, thus enabling millions of
   Brazilians to learn about their history. 
3. The "Tagore, Neruda, Cesaire"
   programme which highlights the contributions of all cultures to our common
   values. 
4. Brazil’s open schools, in which thousands
   of children learn to control and avoid violence through sport, music and culture.

UNESCO REFORM:

The
external audit commissioned
by Member States in 2010/2011 found unsatisfactory cooperation with
NGOs and forwarded several areas for improvement. UNESCO has therefore revised its criteria
for relationship with NGOs in order to strength working relations and to ensure greater geographical representation amongst NGOs in offical relationship with UNESCO.

UNESCO wishes to reinforce its cooperation with NGOs and become more efficient in how we engage. So, NGOs are now  “partners” – the new term for what was previously called “NGOs in official relationship with UNESCO” . Partners are now classified into one of two categories:  “Consultation” or “Association”. This is
to simplify and clarify the actual role played by each NGO to UNESCO.
Soroptimist International has been classified as being in “Consultation”. 

We hope that these new structures will improve engagement and enable us to better represent the voices of women and girls. 

For more information about UNESCO, visit their website.